In addition to the inclusion of ice sculptures on a serving table, a practice enjoying growing popularity is the serving of certain items such as sorbet and fruit salad in decorative ice bowls. Currently, these decorative ice bowls are typically formed through the use of a pair of bowls, wherein one bowl of the pair is substantially smaller in size than the other bowl and thus receivable thereinto in a nested fashion. In this respect, the smaller, inner bowl is placed within quantity of water poured into the larger, outer bowl with water being forced upwardly between the bowls to a level of approximately 11/2 inches below the rim of the outer bowl. As will be recognized, the placement of the inner bowl into the water causes it to float, thus normally elevating the rim thereof above the rim of the outer bowl. Since it is desirable to keep the rims of the inner and outer bowls level, disposed within the inner bowl is a jar which is filled with water for purposes of increasing the weight of the inner bowl. In this respect, water is poured into the jar until such time as the weight of the inner bowl is increased sufficiently so as to cause the rim thereof to be substantially level with the rim of the outer bowl. Once the rims of the inner and outer bowls have been leveled, the position of the inner bowl relative the outer bowl is maintained by extending at least two strips of tape over the bowl rims and jar in an X-shaped pattern.
After the tape strips have been extended across the bowls and jar in the aforementioned manner, selected plant material for decorating the ice bowl such as mountain ash berries, cabbage leaves, miniature amaryllis flowers, sprigs of cypress, and small red roses, are slipped into the water between the bowls. The leaves and flowers are preferably prodded to desired locations within the space defined between the bowls through the utilization of a straight floral wire. The larger leaves are typically wedged toward the bases of the bowls, with the flowers being gently squeezed between the sides thereof.
After the leaves and flowers have been selectively positioned in the water between the two bowls, the entire assembly is placed in a freezer and the water frozen. Thereafter, the tape is removed from the bowls and jar, with the jar subsequently being removed from within the inner bowl. Cold water is then poured into the smaller, inner bowl, with the outer, larger bowl itself being dipped into cold water. As will be recognized, warm water is not utilized since the use of the same may cause the ice bowl to crack. After the cold water is poured into the inner bowl and the outer bowl is dipped into the cold water, the bowls will gradually separate from the ice bowl formed therebetween. After the ice bowl is removed from the outer bowl, the same is ready to have a desired food product introduced into the interior thereof.
Though the aforementioned mold components and fabrication process are generally suitable for forming a decorative ice bowl, this construction method has certain deficiencies which detracts from its overall utility. Foremost of these deficiencies is the necessity of having to utilize strips of tape to maintain the inner bowl in a desired orientation relative the outer bowl, and the jar in an upright orientation within the inner bowl. In this respect, when the complete assembly is disposed within a freezer, the below freezing temperatures often adversely affect the adhesive of the tape thus causing the same to become dislodged from the inner and outer bowls, and/or jar. This dislodging often results in a shift of the orientation of the inner bowl relative the outer bowl, thus causing the resultant ice bowl to be formed with a visually apparent, non-uniform wall thickness. The drifting of the inner bowl relative the outer bowl also occurs if insufficient tension is exerted in the tape strips when extending the same across the bowls and jar. Further, the use of the tape strips, as well as the water-filled jar to increase the weight of the inner bowl, is clumsy and makes it difficult to accurately position the inner bowl relative the outer bowl, thus again often resulting in the subsequent formation of an ice bowl having a non-uniform wall thickness. The present invention overcomes these and other deficiencies associated with prior art decorative ice bowl fabricating products and methods.